Do you find yourself saying ‘It’s great to be here’ or ‘good morning, thank you for having me’ when you start a live media interview?
If you do, it’s time to stop with the pleasantries! Let me tell you why.
First of all, saying thanks and exchanging pleasantries may seem polite and well mannered but it’s a waste of precious time.
Broadcast interviews are short. The average TV interview is about 3 to 4 minutes long while the average radio interview is about two and half minutes long. It can be hard to get an important message across within such a limited timeframe without eating into that time by expressing your gratitude. Exchanging pleasantries doesn’t add to the purpose of the interview either. It is dull. Listening to a stream of spokespeople uttering ‘good morning’ and thanking journalists ‘for the opportunity’ is not newsworthy or inspiring. In a pre-recorded interview, that is the first thing we cut off from the final video.
What I’ve often seen in the past decade is spokespersons scrambling to get their message across at the end of the live interview when the news anchor is wrapping up, and then they get cut off. Doesn’t make for good TV at all.
A journalist will NOT think you’re rude for not greeting them or thanking them for having you on. Trust me on this one. We would much rather you get right to the point of the first question so we can produce an interview that is newsworthy, informative, timely and well-paced. So many people now watch the news while scrolling on their phones and attention spans are limited so it’s imperative that you START STRONG.
As a spokesperson, you want come across as being invited to the interview because you have something important and newsworthy to share. “Thank you for the opportunity” phrases makes it seem like you are lucky to be there talking to the journalist. You also don’t want to be waffling about with pleasantries if you are in crisis management mode and speaking to media as that smacks of insincerity. Just get to the point already.
Let me illustrate with an example.
If I were to interview a spokesperson and I start off with this question, “Welcome to the show, Mr X. How did 2021 put pause to your company’s plans of expansion into the China market?”
Having been welcomed on to the programme, it’s very tempting to begin by saying “Thank you! it’s great to be here.”
But I would much rather my interviewee get straight to something meaningful and answer with “We’ve taken this downtime to pivot to…..” this would be a great example of how to begin an interview strong – it is attention grabbing from the get go with an action verb like ‘pivot’.
Remember, if a question has been asked at the beginning of the interview, drop the pleasantries and answer directly. You will maximise the time you have to get your message across and grab the multitasking audience’s attention much quicker too. Good luck!